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That Central Railway took the field in an all-red strip – instead
of their usual ‘home’ colours of yellow and blue - and subsequently forced Air India to change to their black ‘away’
outfits, sent pulses racing amongst the Airmen’s camp as agitated Head coach Bimal Ghosh protested to the alleged gamesmanship on the part of
the railwaymen.
The tone had been set – even prior to kickoff.
Ref under pressure
As expected, there was no love
lost between the two sets of players as the game got underway as an all-out battle ensued. With commitment at an all-time high and tackles getting
reckless by the minute, all eyes were firmly focused on the man in the middle - referee Elvis F.
Surprisingly, the referee let play continue following some perilous challenges in the first fifteen minutes – generating a lot of heat from
the players and the coaching staff alike. Eventually, the inevitable happened.
The game took an ugly turn in the 15th minute as Central Railway’s
temperamental striker Kasif Jamal floored an Air India player with a lunging tackle that would have earned him his marching orders in any other
fixture. The referee’s subsequent decision - to merely caution the forward - had the entire Air India bench fuming – none more so than
an extremely vocal and clearly agitated Bimal Ghosh.
Milestone goal
Thirty five minutes into the tie, Air India surged ahead thanks to a goal from the unlikeliest of sources. Make-shift stopper back Pranil Mendon
found himself at the right place at the right time after a cross by Santosh Koli fell favorably in the defender’s path following a poor
clearance by the Railway defense. Neatly placing the ball into the top corner at the far post, Pranil opened the scoring for the airmen. Goal!
1-0
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